Lyra’s POV
The cold stone pressed against my back, and I knew that if I sat there too long, I would never get up again.
My body was weak, starving, but something fierce and wild had been stirring inside me. I’d been in that prison long enough to know how Colin’s magic operated—the cruel, sick twists of it.
I felt it coil around me like a venomous snake every time he stepped into the room, filling me with despair, feeding on my worst fears. But that night, something felt different. There was a break in his power. It was subtle, a faint c***k in his otherwise flawless spell, but it was enough to give me hope.
I closed my eyes and reached out, feeling the rough surface of the stone wall.
Slowly, I ran my fingers over the uneven surface, memorizing every groove, every tiny c***k. My he
